Month: January 2025

Will the Chargers rest starters Week 18 vs the Raiders? That depends

The Chargers will know Saturday night whether they will have anything to play for Sunday. And whether to rest their starters vs the Raiders.

Teams that don’t have anything to play for in the season finale. Some teams already know whether or not the result of the final game will matter. Others may have to wait. For the Chargers, it’s the latter.

The Chargers are already in the playoffs. Now it’s just a matter of which seed they are. It’s between the fifth and the sixth seed. And whether the fifth seed is up for grabs will be decided by Saturday night.

The late game on Saturday night is between the Steelers and Bengals. Should the Bengals win, the Chargers could claim the fifth seed with a win on Sunday. Should the Steelers win, the Chargers will have the sixth seed regardless of what happens on Sunday against the Raiders.

So, as of now, the Chargers probably don’t know whether they will be resting their starters or not. They will, however, know the answer to that before their heads hit the pillow Saturday night.

Oregon Ducks kicker Grant Meadors enters the transfer portal

Oregon sophomore kicker Grant Meadors leaves the Ducks and enters the transfer portal.

Now that the Oregon Ducks football season is over, it’s only natural that some players will leave the program and look for somewhere else to play.

The latest Duck to hit the portal is sophomore kicker Grant Meadors. After appearing in a few games in 2023, the former six-star kicker, according to Chris Sailor Kicking, announced that he would be looking for a new team.

But it seems as if the Ducks are set in the kicking spot for a couple of more seasons with Atticus Sappington and redshirt freshman Gage Hurych. Sappington and Andrew Boyle shared the kicking duties this season.

The Ducks also signed former Sheldon Irish kicker Rocco Graziano this offseason as well as a member of the 2025 class.

In his two years with the Ducks, Meadors attempted 5 PATs and made them all.

Seeing the forest through the trees or reading the writing on the wall, Meadors decided he will be useful in another place. He’s from Bakersfield, Calif and could possibly transfer to a team closer to home.

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Packers WR Christian Watson (knee) questionable to play vs. Bears in Week 18

The Green Bay Packers listed wide receiver Christian Watson as questionable to play on the final injury report before facing the Chicago Bears in the season finale on Sunday. 

The Green Bay Packers listed wide receiver Christian Watson as questionable to play on the final injury report before facing the Chicago Bears in the season finale on Sunday.

Watson returned to practice in a limited capacity for the first time since suffering the injury on Monday, Dec. 23. He missed last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings after not practicing all week and being listed as questionable on the final injury report.

Coach Matt LaFleur said it was “encouraging” to get Watson back out on the practice field but made no promises on whether or not he would play Sunday, stating his status is still “up in the air.”

Watson suffered a bone bruise on his knee against the New Orleans Saints in Week 16.

Over 14 games, Watson has 29 catches for 620 yards and two touchdowns, plus four rushes for 23 yards. He was the Packers’ most dynamic pass-catcher between Week 11 and his injury, and he produced a career-high 150 yards on only four catches against the Bears in the first meeting.

The Packers have a playoff spot clinched entering the final week, so it’s possible the team will protect Watson for another week to ensure there is no setback before the postseason.

Defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. is also questionable to play with a foot injury. He didn’t practice at all this week. The Packers ruled out five players: cornerback Jaire Alexander, linebacker Quay Walker, safety Evan Williams, safety Zayne Anderson and offensive tackle Andre Dillard.

Bills at Patriots: Sean McDermott hints at some defensive starters playing

Bills at Patriots: Sean McDermott hints at some defensive starters playing

Usually coy and a person that will keep his cards close to his chest, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott might have opened up about his plans for once.

The Bills (13-3) have locked up the No. 2 seed in the AFC postseason. Because of that, plenty of starters for Buffalo won’t play much in Week 18 against the New England Patriots (3-13), if at all. It’s expected that quarterback Josh Allen will simply take a snap or two to keep his starting streak alive while others will just take a seat.

Regarding the opposite direction, on Friday McDermott made it sound like his two starting safeties could be on the field for a bit against the Pats.

Damar Hamlin (rib) and Taylor Rapp (neck) have been in and out of the lineup in recent weeks, Hamlin specifically. With both now healthy, McDermott stressed an importance on those two getting reps together in New England. The coach wants the duo to be ready to roll in the playoffs.

It’s not clear how much playing time will be given to them, but some will.

McDermott’s explanation can be found below:

10 former Alabama players to appear in 2025 NFL Pro Bowl

The 2025 NFL Pro Bowl will be headlined by Alabama with 10 former players.

In recent years, the NFL Pro Bowl has become more of a vacation than anything for the players as they have replaced the full-contact game with weeklong skill challenges and a flag football game. However, it is still always an honor to be recognized as one of the best players in the NFL.

The 2025 Pro Bowl will be the first weekend of February this year, with the Super Bowl the following weekend. This year’s Pro Bowl will again be littered with former Alabama Crimson Tide players as they lead all colleges with 10 selected players. RB Jahmyr Gibbs, RB Josh Jacobs, OG Landon Dickerson, FS Xavier McKinney and SS Brian Branch will represent the NFC while WR Jerry Jeudy, RB Derrick Henry, CB Marlon Humphrey, CB Patrick Surtain and FS Minkah Fitzpatrick will represent the AFC.

Kansas City Chiefs TE and future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce led all votes with 252,200, but Detroit Lions Jahmyr Gibbs was right on his heels finishing second with 250,082.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Spencer Rattler looking for redemption vs. Buccaneers

Spencer Rattler’s first and last starts are against the Buccaneers. Hopefully, this full-circle moment doesn’t end the way it started:

Spencer Rattler’s first start came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and his last start will come against them, too. Hopefully for the New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback this full circle moment doesn’t end the way it started.

As has been the case for most of his starts, Rattler is without critical weapons and reliable offensive linemen. Rattler played without Chris Olave, Erik McCoy and Lucas Patrick in the first game and will do so again. He could also be without Alvin Kamara this time. Instead of Rashid Shaheed as Rattler’s deep threat, he has Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Essentially, the rookie quarterback is stepping into the same situation. The thing that has to be different is him. It’s Rattler’s last attempt to put together a complete game. He’s put together good halves, but hasn’t sustained it for four quarters. We saw that same pattern repeat just last week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The last time Rattler played against the Bucs, the Saints lost 51-27 and he he went 22-of-40 as a passer, gaining 243 yards but throwing two interceptions against a single touchdown, taking five sacks along the way (while rushing four times for 27 yards). He also had a fumble.

Rattler will need to do a better job of placing his passes more precisely after that got him in trouble last week. He’ll also have to use his legs more. Tampa Bay flared their defensive ends out in the last matchup to stop him from rolling outside the pocket, but Rattler will need to use his legs in some capacity on Sunday to navigate through what will be an intense pass rush. Seeing some real improvement would do a lot to build positive momentum for a team that needs it before we shift into the offseason.

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Bengals announce Jermaine Burton won’t travel with team vs. Steelers

An odd Friday news dump by the Bengals.

The Cincinnati Bengals announced that rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton will not travel with the team to the Week 18 season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Cincinnati announced the decision on Friday, citing a coach’s decision.

There is no word yet on what is officially going on with Burton, but he ran into several issues this season as a rookie after allegedly falling in the draft due to red flags.

It’s an extremely unusual development for the Bengals, as Burton is typically active on gameday and has a presence on special teams as a returner.

In early November, Burton was a healthy scratch due to a critical mistake that Zac Taylor later commented on and Bengals teammates sent the rookie a public message about.

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Tee Higgins comments on future with Bengals ahead of season finale

Tee Higgins with a few thoughts on what could be his last game with the Bengals.

There is a chance that Saturday’s Week 18 clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers could be the last game for Tee Higgins with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Granted, things seem better than ever on the topic of Higgins re-signing with the Bengals. There are a few reasons an NFL insider just changed his mind on the subject — two of those being Higgins getting a new agent, who just so happens to also rep Ja’Marr Chase.

Higgins himself briefly weighed in on the subject before the season finale.

“I’m not opposed to staying here. Obviously, it has to be right,” Higgins said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Right now, I’m thinking about winning this game and dealing with it after the season.”

Higgins has maintained that he would like to stay with the Bengals and the recent news around his agent change has suggested a new approach to contract talks.

It certainly helps that Joe Burrow has been sending very public messages to the Bengals front office about this, too, of course.

For now, this is about as much as Bengals fans can expect to hear from Higgins on the subject, as there won’t be traction on this front until the offseason.

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Tua Tagovailoa: I’ll be playing if Dolphins get in playoffs

Tua Tagovailoa says “no ifs, ands, or buts” about it, he’ll play next week if the Dolphins are in the playoffs.

Tua Tagovailoa isn’t expected to play Sunday against the New York Jets with the team’s playoff hopes on the line.

The same hip injury that kept the quarterback out last week against the Cleveland Browns will force the Dolphins to again turn to Tyler Huntley. But if Miami wins and gets help from the Kansas City Chiefs, Tagovailoa says there’s no chance he’ll sit out Wild Card Weekend.

“If the cards play out the way they should and the way we know and think they can, I’m going to be available next week,” Tagovailoa told reporters Friday. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts allowed. I’ll be playing. That’s for sure.”

Fortunately for the Dolphins, Huntley played well in Tagovailoa’s absence last week. The backup completed 84.6 percent of his passes for 225 yards and a touchdown, and added another 52 yards and a touchdown as a rusher.

“It’s tough for any competitor to have to sit out when the season is on the line and you know you can do more, but that just tells you how much trust and respect that we have for ‘Snoop’ (Huntley),” Tagovailoa said. “The defense has been balling as well, so looking forward to what our guys can do this Sunday and we’ll see how the cards fall and how they play out.”

The exact nature of Tagovailoa’s injury has been kept under wraps by the quarterback and the Dolphins. Head coach Mike McDaniel described it as a “unique muscle issue” that just needs time to regain security and strength.

“When it comes to pain, I think I’m good with all of that, but it’s just the restriction of what the doctors are saying I can do,” Tagovailoa said. “For sure, I thought I could’ve played last week. Just the doctors said no. That’s all it was.”

With Tagovailoa in the lineup this season, the Dolphins are 6-5. The fifth-year quarterback has 19 touchdown passes, seven interceptions, and an NFL-best 72.9 completion percentage.

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Falcons’ playoff fate rests in hands of Saints rookie QB

The Falcons’ playoff hopes are in the hands of Saints rookie QB Spencer Rattler…

After losing to the Washington Commanders in overtime last Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons need some help to get into the playoffs. Not only must they defeat the Carolina Panthers in Week 18, but the Falcons must swallow their pride and root for the New Orleans Saints.

The NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers hold a one-game lead in the division but the Saints have a chance to play spoiler in Sunday’s season finale. New Orleans could help send Atlanta to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Since the Saints have ruled out quarterback Derek Carr, the Falcons’ playoff hopes are in the hands of Saints rookie QB Spencer Rattler. 

The fifth-round pick was the odd man out in this year’s draft class, which featured six quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks. Rattler has appeared in six games this season, passing for 1,077 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions.

The fact that Rattler is getting the start isn’t a major surprise since the Saints have nothing to play for. However, New Orleans may view this game as a chance to set the tone for next season — as the Detroit Lions did in their 2022 season finale against the Green Bay Packers.

The Falcons won’t be headed anywhere if they can’t beat the Panthers, who will also be looking to end the season on a high note. Both NFC South matchups kick off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

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